OVERVIEW

Neuropsychology of Epilepsy & Epilepsy Surgery Course is organized by National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN) and will be held from May 01 - Jun 26, 2024.

Description:
This 8-week course will systematically review the major seizure disorders and syndromes. Students will learn how diagnostic tests, such as EEG and structural neuroimaging, are used in epilepsy evaluations. In addition, leading treatment options, including pharmacologic therapies and surgery, will be reviewed. Special emphasis will be placed on the known cognitive and behavioral consequences of specific epilepsy syndromes and antiepileptic drugs. Discussion of the role of neuropsychological assessment in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment will include pre and post surgical cognitive evaluation, cortical stimulation mapping, functional neuroimaging, and the intracarotid amobarbital (Wada) procedure. The cognitive and psychiatric disorders in epilepsy (including psychogenic nonepileptic seizures) will be considered.

Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, the learner will:
Module 1
• Describe differences between seizures and epilepsy.
• Compare and contrast traditional classification of seizure disorders and epilepsy syndromes.
• List the major partial and generalized epilepsies.
• Identify and describe the primary causes of seizures and epilepsy and the relative importance and frequency of each for neuropsychologists.

Module 2
• Describe how different medical diagnostic processes are used to determine type of treatment.
• List the major therapeutic and adverse physical and cognitive side effects of antiepileptic drugs.
• Describe the special considerations involved in antiepileptic drug therapy for woman and children.
• List the issues involved in suicidality and antiepileptic drug treatment.
• Compare and contrast the major surgical treatment options for refractory epilepsy.

Module 3
• Describe the issues involved in neuropsychological test selection in epilepsy and epilepsy surgery patients.
• List the major factors that may confound cognitive test interpretation in epilepsy patients.
• Describe the cognitive deficits commonly seen in epilepsy.
• Compare and contrast differences between patients with chronic epilepsy and psychiatric patients without epilepsy across the major psychological disorders.
• List the epilepsy-specific psychological disorders.

Module 4
• List the purposes of neuropsychological assessment of epilepsy surgery patients.
• Describe the important components of the medical and psychological evaluation for epilepsy surgery.
• Compare the important medical and psychological factors in predicting prognosis after epilepsy surgery.
• Describe how neuropsychologists conduct intracarotid amobarbital (Wada) evaluations and electro-cortical mapping studies of cognitive functions